Friday, July 13, 2007

Midnight Fire Destroyed Pelham's Town Hall in October 1908

At midnight on October 24 1908 -- just after a Republican rally ended in the building -- Pelham's town hall suffered a major fire that nearly burned it to the ground. The fire began in the cell area at the rear. Thankfully, no prisoners were in the cells at the time. An article about the event appeared in New York City's The Sun. The text of that article appears below.

"FIRE IN A TOWN HALL.-----Pelham Building Partly Burned After a Political Rally.

WHITE PLAINS, Oct. 24. -- The officials of Pelham are investigating a mysterious fire which practically destroyed the Pelham Town Hall at midnight.

Last evening the Republicans had a big rally there and soon after the meeting ended and the politicians were going home there was an alarm of fire. It was found that the eastern end of the Town Hall, where the cells are, was on fire. Luckily there were no prisoners in the lockup. Politicians and speakers who had taken part in the rally joined the volunteer firemen in fighting the flames and finally saved part of the hall and prevented the fire from spreading to other buildings in the town. How the fire started hasn't been learned."

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About Me

Blake A. Bell is Town Historian and a member of the Town Council of Pelham, NY in Westchester County. He is a member of the Boards of Trustees of the Westchester County Historical Society (past member of the Executive Committee), and the Society of the National Shrine of the Bill of Rights at Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site (Chair). He served as the editor and publisher of the award-winning HistoricPelham.com Web site. He is the author of two books regarding the history of Pelham: (1) "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak" (iUniverse 2004); and (2) Town of Pelham's 350th Anniversary Celebration: Historian Blake Bell's Articles Published in The Pelham Weekly Plus Photos of Key Events (Pelham Weekly 2006). In addition, he is the author of more than 80 published articles on Pelham history and is a frequent speaker on matters relating to the history of Pelham and surrounding areas. Mr. Bell is Senior Knowledge Management Counsel with 850-lawyer Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York City.